PPL FINALS AT PAPA
A couple of days ago, on a rainy day in the Burgh, the Pittsburgh Pinball League held their finals at the PAPA facility in Carnegie. An all day affair that ran from 11 AM until after 6 PM, the event was a fantastic time as always. Of course, I am in the running for world's worst photographer, so 90% of my shots were blurry and I am so ashamed. Maybe I need to take a course on this stuff! Anyhow, I'll try to walk you through some of the finer points, and I'll use a bunch of photos I took at different events here in Pittsburgh that have nothing to do with PPL Finals. That way, I can pretend I did a great job capturing the event, and you can pretend that my pictures are related to the event. Okay?
How does it all work?
Over the course of about 2 and a half months, we play 8 weeks of pinball in small groups (3 or 4 players). Each week we play 3 games, and get a score from 3 to 15, with 15 being the best score possible. Our best six scores are added together for a total score, and we are ranked from 1 - n, with n being the total number of people who joined PPL for the season. Players 1-32 make up the A division. 33-64, that's the B division. 65-96, C division. Anyone else - X division. PPL season 32 had over 100 players join, but after a number of people couldn't make finals, we ended up with 3 divisions: A, B and C.
Within the divison, players were placed into groups of four. They played 3 games, received scores between 3 and 15 and the top two players in each group advanced. More specifically, each game was worth up to 5 points. If you won, you got 5. If you finshed second, third or fourth - you achieved 3, 2, or 1 points respectively. Round one took the divisions from 32 players to 16. Round two from 16 to 8. Round three from 8 to 4. And round four was the division finals.
(by the way - the artwork above is from the fantastic new game by Stern--Iron Maiden. If there's one near you I highly recommend you give it a shot)
Oh boy. All this pinball - sounds expensive!? Is it in my price range?
The league entry fee is $25. When I go to the movies tomorrow night, I think it'll cost more. For the entry fee we got to play pinball at PAPA, we got a sweet cookout in the rain, plaques for those who finished high enough, and the top 8 spots in each division paid out. There were also countless moments throughout the season that were only possible because I was a member of the Pittsburgh Pinball League. If you live in the Pittsburgh area, and you like pinball, I highly recommend you join us next season. Here's our website if you're interested.
The best part of PPL
By far the best part of the Pittsburgh Pinball League is its members. Besides having pinball in common, I met more good friends within the PPL than I did any other time in my life. And that experience will only improve if you, non-member, join the league. So what are you waiting for?
Okay, so what happened at finals?
First, a lot of amazing pinball was played. Huge comebacks, Grand Champion scores, and hairline victories (we're talking wins by 20 points in games where both players scored in the tens of thousands. But season 32 was special because we crowned a new champion. Do you see that person in the cowboy hat up there in the first photo? His name's Petey. He's been playing in the PPL since Season One. And, he hasn't missed a season yet. And Petey was the A division champion! With a monster final ball on game three, Petey's incredible bonus countdown propelled him into a 3-way tie for first. Which meant a one game playoff. On Mata Hari. And when that playoff was over, and the victory was his - I believe he might have been the happiest man in all of Carnegie. Congratulations! You are the Season 32 Champion!
(Thanks Petey for giving me permission to use this photo. All other photos were taken by me, at some point in time.)
Congratulations to Nick on winning Division B, and Dave on winning Division C. You have to play a lot of good pinball to win PPL, and these three players certainly played a lot of good pinball.
Boooooooom!
Total Nuclear Annihilation is another great game. If there's one near you, again, I recommend you try it out.